Stargate Atlantis: Shepherd's Hook
by the morrighan
Summary: The second half of my version of a season six. This is the eleventh and the LAST story of the series. As always, thank you for reading.
1. Chapter 1

Stargate Atlantis: Shepherd's Hook

"John, are you sure about this? John?"

Carson Beckett's Scottish voice sounded nervous as the doctor reclined in the Ancient Chair that had once graced the sister city of Tir na nOg and was now ensconced in Atlantis. Power was flaring as his ATA gene activated the Chair's controls and the strange interface of man and machine was beginning.

John Sheppard was reclining in the other Chair. He relaxed, allowing the power to flow as he guided it almost effortlessly. "Just follow my lead, Carson, and relax. We are going to fire Drones on that fugly ship and give the Daedalus some breathing room." He looked over a striking brunette woman clad in a white lab coat over her Atlantis blue BDUs. "Doctor Porter, if you see that Carson is in any distress get him out of the Chair ASAP."

"Of course, colonel," Alison Porter agreed. She was curious as to why the military commander had been so insistent she be on hand, but she hadn't questioned him. Her medical kit was in eash reach. "And we will do the same for you."

"I'll be fine. I've got my back-up." He glanced to his right. Moira O'Meara stood near, worriedly watching him, hands thrust into her own white lab coat. He smiled to reassure the biologist, shaking his head that just a few minutes ago he had proposed to her on the spur of the moment. Now he was once more saving the day.

It was just another day in Atlantis.

"On three. Both are hooked up and will act in concert," Rodney assured, moving from his knees off the floor. He stepped carefully over the cables and crystals connecting the two Chairs to the mainframe of the city and the weapons.

John settled back and closed his eyes, flexing his hands over the armpads of the Chair. "Follow my lead, Carson. Okay, ladies, here we go."

"Is he talking to us?" Alison asked.

"No. He's talking to the city, to the cities," Moira replied. "At least he better be."

John smiled.

"I'll be monitoring from the control room. We can track the ships in real time now. I'll be in constant radio contact," Rodney assured. He glanced at the two men in the Chairs, at the two women watching over them then quickly left.

"Here we go, baby…let's get these guys and get 'em where it hurts." John concentrated. He could feel Carson with him, a dim presence to his left, like seeing someone out of the corner of your eye. Both men were controlling the Chairs and connecting to the city.

A star map appeared in the air above them, charting the position of the two ships and the dire battle being waged between them. Alison and Moira stared at it, fascinated as pinpoints of color flew between each blip. A swarm of Drones joined the picture. Looking like yellow squids the weapons hurled towards the larger of the two ships. Explosions were bursts of red in the simulacrum of the star chart.

"First squad is away! Good shooting, Carson!"

"I just aimed for the big one," the doctor modestly said, but he smiled. Oddly enough he was enjoying this.

"That's what they all say," John jested. "Prepping the next round. Rodney, status?"

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Rodney was swerving from monitor to monitor, from screen to screen. He tapped his earpiece. "Fugly One has been hit but their shield is holding! They are still firing on the Daedalus and she's taking evasive measures. Concentrate on the underbelly, John, near the hangar bay! That's the weak spot!"

Radek Zelenka wiped his glasses, returned them to his face. "Daedalus, do you copy? We are rendering assistance. Follow this course trajectory." The Czech relayed the data burst with a press of a button. "Copy?"

"This is Daedalus, copy that and thanks!" Steven Caldwell's voice was intercut with static.

"Is there still only the one ship?" Richard Woolsey asked, eying the screens.

"So far. That other one is still on the other side of us but is heading for us," Radek stated.

"John, I'm transmitting the interference signal now! Give it ten and then attack on the vector I gave you! We should render Fugly One inoperable…temporarily."

"How long is temporarily?" Richard asked.

Rodney shrugged. "I haven't a clue."

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"Understood and acknowledged," John assured. He frowned. "Fugly One? What did I tell you about naming things?" he sighed.

"Carson, are you all right?" Alison stepped to the doctor and touched his wrist. His pulse was quickening. A line of sweat was beading on his forehead.

"Fine, love…it's like running a marathon. Next round, colonel?"

"Yes, Carson. Don't push it. Let me take the lead."

"Are you all right, John?" Moira asked, stepping closer and touching his arm. He appeared to be in no distress.

"Fine, Moy, don't you worry now. This part is pretty easy. Here we go, baby," he muttered, addressing the city. "Ya know, Moy, you never gave me an answer."

"What?" she asked, startled. She glanced at Carson and Alison then looked back at John.

"I don't consider huh as an answer," he said with a smirk. "Here we go, Carson. Let's try multiple rounds at this trajectory."

"Like taking candy from a baby, John," Carson said confidently.

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"Is it working?" Richard was moving all around the control room, unable to keep still. It was like trying to monitor a video game, except this was no game. This was real life and a real battle was being fought in space near Atlantis.

"So far…" Rodney's gaze darted from screen to screen to screen. "The jamming frequencies are on now! John, go for it! They can't fire!"

"Daedalus, do you copy? The enemy craft has been rendered inoperable! Fire at will!" Radek instructed. He glanced at Rodney. "How long?"

"It's hard to say…so far so good." Rodney pointed to the screen. "I'm reading multiple hits on Fugly One! Their shield strength is weakening! John, do it now!"

"If we can take out one of these ships—"

"We can take out another," Rodney finished Richard's thought. "As long as we don't run out of Drones, that is, or overload the ZPMs or have any energy surges or—"

"We're doing fine!" Radek interrupted. "Power levels are holding, ZPMs are online."

"Then why is that flashing?"

At Richard's question all looked at the neural transmitter. It was glowing red and flashing in a sequence that was matching the power fluctuations on one screen.

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"Easy does it, Carson…we're good to go. Rodney, acknowledged. Okay, baby, let's give 'em hell and back again. Follow my lead." John's voice was slightly strained as he moved a little in the Chair, as if he was in the cockpit of a fighter jet. His fingers flexed on the controls and he melded with the city to activate the Drones and head them towards his target.

Carson was struggling, becoming weary as the connection was draining. This Chair felt different from the Atlantis one, and the doctor briefly felt a wave of resentment that John had taken the lead chair for himself without any discussion. It rankled, this air of superiority and Carson directed his Drones with a vengeance that was normally foreign to him.

Moira gasped as the star chart above their heads was filling with yellow squids. "John? John, should you be firing so many? John?" She gently shook his arm.

"Huh? What the…crap! Damn it, Carson, not that many! We can't afford to deplete our supply!" John warned, quickly taking an inventory even as he drove his own squads of Drones towards the enemy ship. The city's Shield crackled with the impact of hundreds of Drones leaving it, but held intact and secure.

"I'll take the lead on this one, thank you very much, colonel," Carson snapped, flexing his hands on the control pads. "She told me."

"What?"

"She told me what you did to her, you bastard."

"What?" John briefly lost contact as he opened his eyes, baffled.

A moment's distraction was all that it took.

"She told me what you did to her, raping her and taking from her what she needed. You said you were going to save her but instead you butchered her!"

"The city? You must mean Turnog! No, Carson, don't listen to her! She's not real!"

"Carson?" Alison quickly checked the doctor's pulse. Blood was trickling from his nose. "His heart is racing! Carson, get out of there now! I am going to pull you out!"

"You did! All to save your precious city! You used her, tossed her onto the side of the road all to save your precious, precious Atlantis! I won't let you get away with this, I won't let you—"

"Carson!" Alison cried as the doctor began to convulse.

"Get him outta there!" John ordered, shutting his eyes and forcing calm onto himself he didn't feel. He recalled what had happened to the last man who had tried to co-pilot the Drones with him in that Chair. That man had died.

"John, hold on…John…" Moira's voice was calm as she slid her hand down his arm to his hand.

John grabbed onto that calm and let it guide him, as he suddenly found himself deeply in the city's systems and guiding twice as many Drones. It was almost too much to handle as Carson's control fell away, leaving the unwieldy weapons to John's solo direction.

"Moira! Help me get him out of this damn thing!" Alison called. She was trying to move the doctor out of the Chair.

"Go. I'll be fine, Moy," John assured in a low voice.

Moira's hand tightened on his a moment. "I'll be right back, John, I promise."

They were the last words John heard as he was absorbed into the city.


	2. Chapter 2

Stargate Atlantis: Shepherd's Hook2

"Massive hit! Port side! They have sustained critical damage!"

Radek's triumphant report filled the air, but the celebration was short-lived as monitors began beeping and the lights flickered wildly.

"We've got power disruptions! John, what's going on down there?" Rodney asked, shoving a technician aside to access information. His fingers danced across the keyboard. "Oh my God. They've used over half of our Drones!"

"What?" Richard joined him. "Colonel, what's going on down there?"

"The Daedalus is reporting hull damage on the..." Radek paused, adjusting his headset. "I've lost communications!"

"Rodney!" Teyla Emmagan was running towards him, crying baby in her arms. "The city is locking down the lower levels! What is going on!"

"What? I'll override it!" Rodney moved to yet another console and quickly checked the systems. "Damn! I'm locked out! What the hell is happening?"

"I'll use my code." Richard stepped to him and typed in his command code. The screen blinked at him, unresponsive.

"Look out!" Teyla warned, whirling to shield her son. Sparks were flying on one console and the jerry-rigged device imploded in a wave of sickly orange light. Alarms began shrieking. Quickly Radek grabbed a fire extinguisher and doused the sudden blaze of flames.

"So much for that interference," Richard remarked. "Status?"

Rodney glanced at another screen. "Look for yourself! Fugly One is powering weapons…powering…oh no! No, no, no, no!" He rushed to Radek and snatched the headset off the check. "Daedalus, do you read! Get out of there! Repeat, get out of there! Fugly One is activating its main weapons system and you don't stand a chance against the super laser!"

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"I'm administering a sedative but we have to get him to medical!" Alison ordered, as she hovered over Carson as he was prone on the floor. She had managed to get the doctor out of the Chair with Moira's aid. "I need a med team down here now!" she shouted into her earpiece.

"I'll take him!" Ronon Dex ran into the room. He glanced at John before moving to Carson. The doctor was still convulsing, bleeding from the nose but as Alison gave him the sedative he slowly calmed. His limbs went slack.

"Will you be all right to—"

"Go!" Moira urged, quickly returning to John. "I'll stay with John, just go now! John, John, can you hear me?" She touched his arm, staring at him. A line of sweat beaded his brow but his nose wasn't bleeding and he was composed, calm, eyes closed.

"Call me if anything happens. Let's go, Ronon!"

The Satedan nodded and lifted the unconscious doctor. He followed Alison out of the room, glancing back at John worriedly.

Moira checked John's pulse. It was strong, a little fast but steady. She grasped his forearm with both of her hands, closing her eyes and concentrating like she had the last time, to connect through the ATA and to cocoon him with support and warmth. "John, John, tell me what to do. John…the Chair! Of course!" She opened her eyes and made to move there.

John's sudden grasp of her arm stopped her. "NO!" he ordered harshly.

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The explosion was bright, blinding, as the wave of Drones hit the side of the fugly ship and tore through the shield. With their systems briefly down the ship was vulnerable and John took full advantage of the fact. He used the Drones to tear into the enemy ship and rip apart the hull. He fell back, tensing and writhing in the Chair as he freed his control of the Drones before he could feel the full force of the impact.

Moira's voice was a distant sound. The feel of her touch was a distant warmth, but suddenly she was there, a blanket of support and calm to guide him back to Atlantis, to himself. Until he heard her suggestion of going to the other Chair. John grabbed her and halted her. He kept his hold on her, not letting her risk herself as he feared the worst about Carson. He was appalled at the number of Drones that had been expended.

But there was worse to come.

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"I can't override it! The city's in control!" Rodney complained, shaking his head.

"Why? There's no threat to us! Is there?" Richard asked.

"Rodney…is that transmitting?" Radek pointed to the neural interface. It was still glowing red and blinking rapidly amid the debris from the implosion.

"Crap!" Rodney ran to it, grabbed his data pad and smashed the device with it. The cover on his data pad cracked but he hit the device with it. It beeped and flew to the floor, in pieces now but still blinking, blinking rapidly as if in a code.

"Allow me!" Teyla grabbed a gun from a startled marine. Balancing her son in one arm she aimed the P90 in the other and fired. Pieces flew everywhere, shattered by the bullet. The red light was gone as the device was obliterated.

"Thank you, Teyla," Richard said calmly, as Rodney stared in shock at the ruin of the device not to mention his cracked data pad. "Radek, keep trying to establish communications with the Daedalus. Rodney, monitor that power surge on the enemy ship and see if you can get our systems back to normal. I will try my command code again. Colonel Sheppard, do you copy? Stop firing the Drones and get up to the control room, please."

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Alison was moving quickly, stabilizing Carson as he was convulsing again on a bed in the infirmary. "Hold him still! I need to do a scan!"

Ronon obliged, keeping the struggling doctor in place on the bed. "What's wrong with him? The same thing that happened to Sheppard?"

"Yes and no. Carson, can you hear me? Carson! He's in deep, but I think it's more physical than mental." She ran the scanner over his head, frowning at the readings. "That can't be…"

"What can't be?" Ronon asked, using his body weight now to keep the doctor in place.

"He…he's developed a subdural hemotoma…I don't know how…I…" The doctor appeared stunned at this medical emergency and she stared at Carson with wide eyes.

"Can you cure him?" Ronon asked.

"Yes…but I will need to, to operate."

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"John, John, please! John, let me help you!" Moira struggled but John's grip was iron strong. His fingers were digging into her flesh, keeping her in place. She relented, grasping his arm and closing her eyes to try to connect with him again. His hold gentled a little, but only a little. "John, please...let go! You have to let go now! Please!"

She couldn't concentrate and opened her eyes to see he was still, very still. A trickle of blood was escaping his nose.

"John, no, no!" She felt his pulse. It was fast, very fast and he didn't respond, didn't move at all. His breath was coming quickly, as if he was running. "Damn it, Sheppard, don't you dare do this again! John!" The power flared wildly, almost knocking Moira away from the Chair but she clung to it stubbornly, clung to John. "Oh no, bitch, you aren't having him again!"

She glanced across the room. The injured alien stood there, beckoning to her.


	3. Chapter 3

Stargate Atlantis: Shepherd's Hook3

"It's just us now, John."

John blinked. He found himself in the control room of Atlantis. It was empty, eerily empty and silent. Even the bubbling waters in the walls were soundless motions. He turned slowly and stared.

A woman was standing near. She was beautiful, almost ethereally beautiful. Her skin was white porcelain. Her long blond hair billowed around her in rich waves. A long white gown clothed her form, yet it was somewhat diaphanous to give John a glimpse of curves and her female anatomy. Her lips were ruby red. Her eyes were deep, deep blue, as deep as the ocean outside Atlantis. She resembled Ann in many ways, but was not his former girlfriend.

Her beauty made him stare, made his breath catch in his throat. He almost fell to his knees in the presence of such beauty, but it was a cold beauty. It was ice cold and regal, haughty and there was no feeling there, no warmth at all. She was like an icicle, or a statue made of ice and although gorgeous beyond words there was no humanity in her.

There was only cold. And power.

"Atlantis." John swallowed, realizing. He took a step towards her, paused. "You can't keep me here. In here, I mean. I belong out there defending you and keeping you safe."

"You are. The only way is to join with me, John. You will join with me." She took a step towards him and cool breeze swept over him, through him.

John shook his head. "I don't think so. Besides, is that even physically possible?"

The woman laughed. It was not a sound of merriment. It was a sound of icicles shattering. "You are here now and shall remain. I have chosen others…but none have had as strong an ATA as you do, John Sheppard. You shall join with me now."

"No…I'm really not in the mood," he countered, holding up a hand. He tried to back away but couldn't move. He looked down to see his boots encased in bluish ice, almost invisible as if he was in fact losing his physical form. "Oh crap," he muttered.

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"No, no, no you're not real!" Moira looked away, closing her eyes and opening them. She leaned close to John, touched his arm, his hand. His skin was cold. Too cold. "John! John, wake up! John, John!" She shook his arm hard, looking round to see that the Homo erectus was still here, beckoning with one hand, gore dripping out of my eye. "No! John, wake up!" She leaned closer, said into his ear, "Pale green satin, push-up, with a very skimpy sheer pantie to match." She leaned back but there was no response, not even a ghost of a smile. "John, John, please…you…"

She considered. Her gaze fell on the mishmash of crystals and wires and the ZPM. "Of course! Hang on, John, I'll get you out of there!" She began to methodically pry his fingers up from her other arm, one by one.

She tried to ignore the Homo erectus as it began to shuffle towards her.

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"Prep him." Alison's voice was calm, belying none of the fear she felt. She moved to scrub for surgery, glancing back at the inert form of Carson Beckett as nurses wheeled him into the surgical lab. Ronon was standing guard, worry on his face as he watched the nurses set up the equipment and anesthesia.

The tray of surgical instruments gleamed in readiness, silver against silver. The bright lights over the table where Carson reclined washed him in a pallid glow. It was an unnerving sight and Ronon had to look away for a moment, but he steeled himself and vowed to be there for his friend, just as Carson had been there for him during his darkest days after being injured by the new alien species.

"He will make it," Ronon muttered, nodding to himself. "He will make it."

"Have you ever done this before?" an assistant asked, pulling on a surgical gown. The teal was a splash of color against the white lights of the surgical lab.

"No. Guess there's a first time for everything," Alison answered.

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"I need you to override this lock down now!" Richard insisted, feeling helpless. He could only stare at the monitors displaying the bitter battle in space between the two ships. He could only watch as both Rodney and Radek tried everything they could think of to hack into the system and get around the programs the city was instigating on its own.

"I'm trying! It's not responding to any command codes, not even Sheppard's!" Rodney complained. "It's like the city has detected a threat but there's no threat here!" He paused, glancing round. "Is there?"

"No. Any contact with the Daedalus?" Richard asked.

"Negative!" Chuck Campbell announced.

"Any contact with Sheppard?"

"Negative!"

Richard sighed and tapped his earpiece. "Major Reynolds, take a team and see if Colonel Sheppard needs assistance in the Chair room." The leader of Atlantis glanced over to see Teyla bouncing her baby son, trying to comfort the unhappy infant. "Doctor McKay, is there any reason the Shield is still up?"

"No! I mean I don't know why the city is keeping it up because we are safe from that battle in space!" Rodney was sweating with anxiety as his computer skills were failing him at every turn. "I'm reading multiple power fluctuations but nothing's offline! I'm scanning for any outside interference but there is none! I can access the secondary systems but there's nothing wrong!"

"Could this have something to do with the two Chairs?" Richard asked.

"No! Every simulation we ran never projected this!"

"Could this be some kind of interaction with the Penning trap?" Richard asked.

"What? No! Of course not! It's inert, totally…" Rodney gulped and glanced at Radek who was staring at him. The same thought had crossed the men's minds.

Rodney took off at a run.

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"You will join with me, John." The woman seemed to float as she neared him.

John struggled but now his shins were encased in ice, and although he knew this wasn't real, this was just a virtual reality created by his connection to the city he could feel the bitter cold creeping up his limbs and he still couldn't move. Nor could he break free of the simulation. Try as he might he couldn't hear Moira's voice or feel her touch.

He was disconnected from the real world now and he wondered if he would ever get back to it.

"I won't! I can better protect you out there!" He gestured towards the windows where the light of day could be seen, but it appeared opaque, not real at all. To his horror his teeth were chattering as the cold was creeping up past his knees now. "You can't keep me here!"

"Oh…I can." She was close now. Her blue eyes blazed into his. Her breath was cold, so cold it was visible in white wafts of mist. Ice skimmed over her white teeth and ruby lips. "Do you think that all of the Ancients ascended or fled? No. A few…a few remained to serve me. To serve me through the long, long days of my sleep." She lifted an arm and pointed.

John turned his head to see the wall. It was translucent now and there was a man ensconced there. A man pale as ice and stiff as the dead. The long dead as his limbs had atrophied and his hair was a tangled white mess that fell to his knees. John looked back at the woman. "You cocoon them like the Wraith? What are you?"

"I am nothing like the Wraith!" she flared, blue eyes lit by fury. Her nails glittered as they slashed across John's face.

John didn't feel any pain. He was too cold to feel pain as the ice was creeping up past his thighs now. He was shivering furiously and conversely sweating. His fingers brushed the hilt of his gun he couldn't grasp it. He could barely feel it as his fingers tingled.

"If you imprison me here like this you are!" John's words were white puffs of air from between his chattering teeth.

The woman reached out and touched John's face .

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Moira finally got herself free from John's grip and ran to the back of the Chairs, perilously close to the shuffling Homo erectus. "You're just a, a hallucination!" She reached the ZPM and began to unhook the wires and crystals, trying to disengage the power from the Chairs and thus freeing John from the city.

A hand grabbed her, spun her and backhanded her across the face.

Moira cried out in surprise, whirling and falling. "No! You can't! You're a hallucination!" she protested, touching her stinging cheek. Blood speckled her fingers. She stared up in astonishment at the figure towering over her. It was a Homo erectus, but not the injured one. This one had both eyes and was physically unharmed. It smiled with a mouth full of teeth. The red gums were glaring against the gray skin.

Moira scrambled to keep disconnecting the ZPM from the Chairs, lurching up onto her feet to move to the equipment.

The Homo erectus grabbed her and slammed her onto the floor. Moira landed hard on her stomach, the breath knocked out of her. It pinned her down and shoved her legs apart, grunting.

"JOHN!" Moira screamed.


	4. Chapter 4

Stargate Atlantis: Shepherd's Hook4

Moira's scream broke through John's torpidity. Suddenly he was able to move. Suddenly he was in the Chair in Atlantis. He leapt out of it, whirling to see a monstrosity pinning her to the floor. He lunged towards it and knocked it aside, off of Moira. He fell with it onto the floor. An elbow hit his midsection and he groaned, freed the thing and rolled to his knees. He drew his gun in one fluid motion and fired, fired, fired.

The door was opening and a flood of marines entered, guns raised.

"Shoot it! Shoot it now!" John ordered harshly, blinking against the flare of light illuminating the room.

"Shoot at what, sir?" Jason Reynolds asked.

John stared, lowering his gun. There was nothing there. He looked round. There was no intruder, no huge fugly anywhere. He holstered his weapon and moved to Moira who was cowering on the floor, brown eyes wide with shock. Blood trickled from the corner of her mouth. "Moira? Moira, it's all right. Moira, look at me. It's all right." He neared slowly, squatted and held out an empty hand.

Moira was shaking her head. "It can't…it can't…you, you saw it too, you saw it?" Her voice was rising to hysterics. "It wasn't a hallucination, John! It wasn't it wasn't!"

"Yes, sweetheart, I saw it and felt it," John assured. His voice was low, gentle. "But now it's gone. It's all right, Moy. Take my hand."

She hesitated then did so. "John!" She melted into him as he stood, pulling her with him.

"It's all right, Moy, I promise," he said into her hair, kissing her brow. He turned to the men who were awaiting orders, looking around in puzzlement and trying not to stare at the intimate moment. "Status, Reynolds?"

"Not good, sir. The city is locking out Doctor McKay and the Daedalus is under heavy fire."

"Colonel Sheppard! I need you here now!" Richard's strident voice pinged over John's earpiece.

"On my way! Let's move!" As the marines exited John looked round the room, then to Moira. "What the hell is going on here, Moira?"

"I, I don't know, John…" She squirmed out of his embrace but he caught her hand, keeping her next to him. "Are you, are you okay?"

"Yeah…thanks to you. Let's go, Moy."

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Alison checked the monitors. She checked the IV drip. Finally she touched Carson's forehead. "He's stable. He should be fine." She almost sagged with relief and leaned on the bed where the doctor was recovering, still unconscious but out of danger.

"You did good, doc," Ronon said with a smile.

"I hope so," she sighed, checking Carson's pulse. She sighed again. "He should be somewhat responsive now." She checked his eyes. "Carson? Carson?" She checked the monitors. His vitals were stable and strong, yet he seemed to be vacant.

It was like he wasn't there.

It was like he was somewhere else.

"Carson, can you hear me?"

Suddenly Carson's body jerked and he gasped, limbs flailing. Alison caught his arms as Ronon caught his legs. "What's wrong with him?"

"I don't know! Carson, Carson, you're safe! Carson!"

Carson blinked, calming. He eyed the Satedan holding him down, then Alison. "What the bloody hell is this?" he rasped.

Alison smiled, nodding. Ronon released him. She helped the doctor sip some water. "You had a subdural hematoma and I had to operate but you are fine now. I will tell you one thing. You are never getting back into that Chair!"

"I just might agree with that, love." He gingerly touched his head. "I've got a headache."

"Of course you do. I will adjust your meds." Alison leaned close, lightly kissed him and turned away to check the IV.

Ronon smiled and patted the doctor's shoulder. "Glad to have you back, doc."

"Glad to be back, son. Go on, now. I'm fine. I just need a bit of a kip."

Ronon nodded and exited the infirmary.

No one saw the brief flare of ice blue in Carson's eyes.

No one saw the brief breath of frost that lined his lips.

No one saw the brief, brief smile.

XxX XxX XxX XxX XxX XxX XxX XxX XxX XxX XxX XxX XxX XxX XxX XxX XxX

Rodney was ready to pull out his hair, except he really couldn't afford to lose any. Instead he rapped his fingers on the keyboards, hammering commands that the city ignored. "Damn it! Why is she being such a bi…oh John! Can you possibly override the never mind!"

Suddenly the city was responding. The alarms ceased and doors were opening again. The lights no long flickered.

"What happened?" Richard asked, gesturing for John to join them.

"I don't know! But it's working now. Everything is back under our control." Rodney breathed a sigh of relief. "I can't lower the Shield yet, however."

John moved forward but stopped as Moira wasn't moving. She was trying to pull her hand out of his, gazing round with a panicked look on her face. He met her gaze. "They're not there, Moy," he said quietly, but he glanced round just to be sure. His fingers tightened on hers and he led her to the center of the control room.

Something crunched under his boots and he looked down to see what was remained of the neural transmitter. He wanted to ask but instead he glanced at the screens. "Status?"

"Not good. We've lost contact with the Daedalus and it is badly damaged. We can no longer jam the enemy's frequencies and they are powering up for a massive attack. Any ideas?"

John frowned. His fingers tightened around Moira's as she was trying to get away from him again, and he wasn't about to let that happen. He eyed the screens, the blips that were still moving towards Atlantis. One blip was gaining on the other. Meanwhile there was yet another blip heading for the city from the opposite direction. "What the hell is that?"

"That is Fugly Two," Rodney said, shaking his head. "It's definitely not Wraith and yes, before you ask their course will take them straight to us and no, I can't get any more specifics from the long-range scanners because I have had to reboot them! And why did you use over half of our Drone supply?"

"I didn't. It was Carson. How is he, by the way?"

"Recovering," Ronon answered as he joined them. "You okay?"

"Yeah." He glanced at Moira. She was looking at the floor, frowning, still trying to get free. His fingers entwined with hers tightly and he scowled then looked at the screens. His eyes narrowed in thought. "We won't reach them by Jumper in time, will we?"

"Not a chance," Rodney said. "And don't even think of trying the star drives."

"I wasn't. Wait, was I?"

"No! We haven't the power and even if we did we hardly have the resources to fight that thing or to rescue the…"

"Rodney?"

The physicist had suddenly gone very pale, very still as he stared at a screen. His fingers were frozen over the keyboard.

"Doctor McKay?" Richard asked, equally baffled.

Rodney lifted his gaze to his friends. He swallowed, forcing the words past a dry throat. "It's gone. The, the Daedalus…is gone."


	5. Chapter 5

Stargate Atlantis: Shepherd's Hook5

"Gone? What do you mean gone?"

Richard's question hung in the air, in the total silence as all eyes were locked onto Rodney. The physicist was visibly shaken and pale. He pointed a finger at a screen. "Just what I said," he answered. "The Daedalus is gone. It's been destroyed. Completely and utterly destroyed." He swallowed and looked at another screen. "A massive energy wave blew it to pieces. There's…there's nothing left."

"All those people…" Teyla murmured softly, hugging her baby to her. At last the infant had quieted and was making little chuffing sounds.

The same horrified thought dropped on everyone. Everyone knew at least one person assigned to the Daedalus. Hundreds of people had been atomized without a single sound, without any warning except for Rodney's static-filled radio message.

It was like a sucker punch to the gut and John almost reeled from the impact. He couldn't think for a minute, his mind a blank slate as he tried to comprehend Rodney's words. He pictured the Daedalus and all those people on board, being led by Caldwell to rescue Atlantis, to help them.

Now there was no help coming from anywhere.

Richard's hand lifted to catch at his tie, but he wasn't wearing one and his fingers grasped empty air. The enormity of the loss fell heavily upon him, taking his breath away. The Ancient warship had been their last hope, and now it was gone, along with everyone on it.

He could only think of all those condolence letters he would be forced to write.

Rodney had been rendered speechless, a rare thing for the physicist. He eyed the scans and wondered if he could have prevented it somehow, if he could have given them an earlier warning. He wondered if another wave of Drones would have made a difference. He wondered if he could have done a better job with the jamming mechanism he had created.

He wondered if he could, in fact, make the Penning trap into a weapon after all.

Teyla hugged her baby to her as Kanaan slid an arm around her waist, pulling his family to him. She glanced at him, grateful. She felt overwhelmed at the immense loss of life, the sudden murder of so many people, many of them friends.

Even the Wraith did not kill so indiscriminately.

Ronon wasn't surprised, not really. He had seen two of the enemy ships up close and knew that the Daedalus wouldn't stand much of a chance against it. Not alone, not without help. He slid his arm around his wife Amelia Banks-Dex as a sob escaped her lips. She had served on the ship and knew nearly everyone on board. If not for her marriage she might have been on the vessel.

He couldn't have borne the loss of another woman he loved to a hated alien enemy.

Ann Teldy lost her breath and forced herself to breathe again. Like many marines she had friends on the Daedalus and its loss was incomprehensible. The Ancient warship had seemed indestructible, able to take on a Wraith Hive ship of all things, but the new alien vessel had proved to be too much.

She looked at John, trying to quell her flare of jealousy as the biologist was at his side.

Moira was trying not to look at the people as she was seeing Homo erectus among them, and even though she knew they weren't really there she wanted more than anything to get out of that room. But John's hold was strong and firm. He wasn't hurting her but he wasn't letting her go either. She couldn't believe the Daedalus was gone. It seemed unreal.

She could feel John's utter shock and loss and looked at him with concern.

"What's that?"

The shout drew people's attention to the balcony. As one the group moved to it, crowding round to gaze upwards at the blue sky. There was a bright light in the distance, like a new sun. People raised their hands to their eyes to gaze up at it even though the city's Shield was still in place and gave the new illumination a pinkish glow.

It was an eerie sight in the sky, as if there were two suns now blazing in the blue sky. One was high in the horizon. The other was low.

"Rodney?" John asked slowly, gazing up like the rest. His grip gentled on Moira's hand as she too was staring up at the new object on the horizon.

Rodney stepped next to his friend. "That's it. That's from the explosion of the…oh no." He hastened back into the control room as abrupt realization chilled him.

Richard followed. "What is it? The Shield will protect us from that, right?"

"Yes, but it's not that! We shouldn't be seeing this! Now, I mean, we shouldn't be seeing this for weeks!" His fingers flew over a keyboard.

"They attempted a hyperspace jump before they were hit," Radek explained, as data scrolled across his monitor. "It could only partially open and the resultant vacuum—"

"Pushed them closer to us and pulled Fugly One along with them!" Rodney finished.

"What?" Richard glanced outside as the crowd was still staring at the new bright disc in the sky.  
"What exactly does that mean? How close are they?"

"Are you trying to tell me that the fuglies are on our doorstep now?" John asked, joining them. He was pulling Moira along with him, ignoring her attempts at freeing her hand.

Rodney shook his head, shook it again but the computer's trajectory did not alter. He raised his gaze to the irate military commander. "Not yet, but they will be."

"How soon? How soon?" John demanded, almost shouting. His raised voice drew everyone's attention and they filed back into the city, into the control room, crowding round.

"Two days…maybe three." Rodney wiped his brow.

"And Fugly Two will be here right after that," Radek added dourly. "We are right in the middle of a pincer move."

"With nowhere to go," Ronon added gravely.

"And with only half a complement of Drones, if that," Rodney added quietly.

"And with our power levels decreased substantially," Radek interjected.

There was a silence. Even the bubbling of the waters was quiescent, as if the city was holding its breath as well. The circumstances were dire and everyone knew it. The city was under siege, or soon would be, with weakened protection and even weaker weapons compared to what it was facing, or would be facing.

There was no help coming from anywhere. The Coalition and the Genii would be of no use. The alliance with the Wraith had seemingly dissolved, and there was no time to contact them in the event that they would render assistance.

The Daedalus was gone.

Atlantis was alone, truly alone now.

"John, what should we do?" Rodney asked, despairing. He saw no way out of this scenario.

"Colonel, what should we do?" Richard echoed. He was completely out of his element here and he knew it.

"John, what are you going to do?" Ann asked, moving towards him but she stopped, uncertain.

All eyes were on John as he stood, staring at the monitor, staring at nothing really as the burden of responsibility, the burden of the city's future not to mention the lives of everyone here fell heavily upon him. He was silent, drawn into himself, seeking answers but finding none. He had in effect led the city and its population for five years, six now, and had faced every conceivable kind of disaster, every conceivable kind of enemy. Victory had always, always been theirs and had never truly been in doubt.

Until now.

Moira's fingers moved slowly along his and she gently squeezed his hand. "John?" she said softly, so softly. "What are we going to do?"

John met her gaze. The brown depths were full of concern, all for him, only for him. The purple circle round one iris was a vivid reminder of what she had endured for him, was still enduring. He let her love wash over him, her trust and confidence and he glanced round at the people staring, staring at him.

Friends. Colleagues. Fellow travelers from Earth all waiting for his decision, his leadership.

All waiting for an answer.

At last he gave one.

"We are going to evacuate nearly everyone to Earth, leaving behind a skeleton crew that I will select."

"What? What are you going to do with a skeleton crew? You can't possibly fight off the fuglies!" Rodney exclaimed.

"I know." John glanced at his friend but his gaze moved to Moira. "We are going to sink the city."

THE END


End file.
